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A Missouri hospital ran out of ventilators over the weekend of July 4 amid an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations potentially caused by the spread of the Delta variant.
Coronavirus hospital patients in Springfield – a city of more than 160,000 people – jumped about 27% over the holiday weekend as the region grapples with low vaccination rates.
The city’s two hospitals – CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield – were treating 213 COVID-19 patients on Monday, up from 168 on Friday.
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As of May 24, the two hospitals were treating just 31 coronavirus patients.
With the rise in patients, Mercy Springfield ran out of ventilators over the weekend, but was able to borrow more before another patient arrived, according to Erik Frederick, the hospital’s executive director.
“After what we saw last month, everyone is holding their breath, especially after a holiday weekend like this knowing there were large gatherings,” Frederick told The Associated Press .
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Missouri has the most new COVID-19 cases per capita in the past 14 days of any state across the country.
Just under 45 percent of the state’s residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The national rate is 54.7%.
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